


The Boy Made of Sun || n.s.

by ICantThinkStraight



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Boarding School, Demigods, F/M, Half-bloods, M/M, Narry - Freeform, goblet of fire - Freeform, narry storan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-13
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-04 06:46:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4128697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ICantThinkStraight/pseuds/ICantThinkStraight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The only way Harry could describe this boy was; the sun. The literal sun, in all of it's brilliance and glory. He was beautiful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ω

 dem·i·god

_/noun/_

a being with partial or lesser divine status, such as a minor deity, the offspring of a god and a mortal, or a mortal raised to divine rank.

 

_Preview:_

Harry remembers the first time he saw this boy. He was sitting up against a tree on the edge of the forest simply drinking in the peacefulness of the surrounding nature, when the boy and Louis walked by. They were some yards away and headed for The Academy, much like Harry himself should have been. The boy had merely thrown his head back in laughter at something that Louis had said, but Harry felt the effect even from his distance. Faint warmth spread through his chest and a smile reflexively tugged the corners of his mouth upwards. The only way Harry could describe this boy was; the sun. The literal sun, in all of its brilliance and glory. He was beautiful.

**~**

**Hello!**

**New fic!  
**

**This one will be about 20 or so chapters** **and is loosely based off of things in three different book series.**

**Thank you all for your support, it truly means the world to me!**

**-Sam xx**

 


	2. α

_Harry remembers the first time he saw this boy. He was sitting up against a tree on the edge of the forest simply drinking in the peacefulness of the surrounding nature, when the boy and Louis walked by. They were some yards away and headed for The Academy, much like Harry himself should have been. The boy had merely thrown his head back in laughter at something that Louis had said, but Harry felt the effect even from his distance. Faint warmth spread through his chest and a smile reflexively tugged the corners of his mouth upwards. The only way Harry could describe this boy was, the sun. The literal sun, in all of its brilliance and glory. He was beautiful._

***

I tilt my head back until the top of it is pressed against the tree bark and my neck is craning. My eyes rake through the overhead yew leaves and I sigh. Time for the first classes of the year. I elbow the tree trunk solidly, feeling the vibration shoot up the trunk and out into the branch I'm focusing on, and the next second a couple red, olive sized berries drop from the branch into my outstretched palm.

"Stop damaging nature." A voice sounds. I drop my gaze to my best friend Liam who is headed in my direction.

"I'm helping nature, Liam." I grin, accepting the helping hand extended to me by my mate, levering myself up from the ground and stowing one of the berries in my pocket. I close the second in my fist and Liam hears me mutter something in Latin before carelessly tossing the fruit over my shoulder.

"There, see? Now there'll be a new tree." I grin crookedly at Liam and sling my blazer over my shoulder as we start towards The Academy.

"Great. Just what we need; another poisonous tree." my grin widens and Liam chuckles. "So, are you ready for this year's classes?"

"Well, I'm looking forwards to archery." I shrug. Liam wrinkles his nose.

"Why?" I smile at Liam's question that had been asked like I had just personally offended him.

"You'd like it if you were any good at it." Liam scowls at that and shrugs.

"Well I'm better with a hammer than you'll ever be." I laugh at Liam's flimsy rebuff as we enter the tall mahogany doors into the entrance hall of The Academy.

Specialty classes are first of the day, meaning classes tailored towards your specific gifts, also meaning that I'm in different classes from one of my only friends. I bid Liam farewell as he turns into a classroom on the second floor and continue onwards towards a classroom a couple doors down, pulling on my blazer as I walk.

I enter the room and claim a seat on the far left, next to the windows. I have a clear view of the forest across the grounds and I stare longingly towards the vibrant green of the trees and the cool shadows under their outstretched branches. I vaguely hear the thud of books hitting table and look towards the new presence now next to me.

"Hi, I'm Emma." The girl introduces herself brightly. I smile politely in response.

"Harry." I return. The girl smiles kindly.

"Hecate, I'm guessing?" I nod.

"The few of you all have this... similar look in your eyes." I nod slowly again, trying to show interest as Emma strikes up some conversation. My interest in the conversation begins to dwindle though and my eyes begin straying around the room.

"I'm a daughter of Demeter, so..." Emma goes on, but I'm not really listening anymore. Thankfully, the professor enters the room a moment later and Emma stops talking to pay attention to her words.

"Hello, I'm Professor Darin, daughter of Demeter and I'll be doing the majority of the teaching this year. Professor Fillius will be doing some, but mainly he'll just be joining us on days when we are actually training, specifically to instruct children of Hecate." Professor Darin begins.

"We're going to start with some review today; basic identification of plants and herbs." I sigh quietly, eyes drifting back to the forest as Emma's hand shoots into the air next to me. I slip the small berry that I had pocketed earlier out, and begin absent-mindedly fiddling with it as my mind drifts to other things.

This year is going to be an interesting one. The Demigod Olympiad is coming up and that means a good amount of training is coming up for us sixth years. We are going to be tested in three of the five areas: leadership, bravery, speed, skill and wit, and the top students will be allowed to submit their names to the headmaster. The headmaster will draw out a single name and that Demigod will be the representative of the Academy in the competition.

The Olympiad itself is a tournament between the top five Demigod schools around the world. The schools are only deemed the best because they are the ones that have produced the most heroes in the past 10 years. Those schools are the American school called Zeus Omnipotens, the all girls, all hunters of Artemis French school called Chasseurs d'Artémis (the literal translation is 'Hunters of Artemis'. So original, I know), the Asian school that's name is in Mandarin, but translates roughly to 'The Elite of Asia', the Australian school only known as Demigod Boarding School (it probably has a real name but no one really knows it) and finally, the English school, _my_ school, called Half-Blood Academy.

This year The Olympiad is being held here in England at The Academy. Every year the winner is crowned the Hero of Olympus and is the one granted access to any quests they wish to take on the following year. It is a pretty big deal here and gives not only you, but your entire school bragging rights, and Lord knows, we English can brag.

I really have no desire to participate in The Olympiad, so I just hope the hero chosen for the Academy is someone I can actually stand, or I might end up cheering for Australia. My mind cycles through the Demigods that I've attended the academy with for the past six years as I try to guess who will be chosen. It could be Emma, I've never spoken to her, save today, but she has always been top of her classes. Maybe it'll be that daughter of Athena, Elizabeth. She'd be a great hero-

"Harry!" Emma hisses, tapping my arm. I jump a bit, startled out of my thoughts as I look at her.

"Huh?" She motions with her head to the front of the classroom and I internally groan as I realize that it has fallen silent and everyone is staring at me, including Professor Darin.

"So you've decided to join us then, Harry?" Professor Darin asks, raising her eyebrows. I swallow hard and clear my throat.

"I apologize, it won't happen again,"

"You best be sure it doesn't." She nods before going back to the lesson. I almost instantaneously tune her out again and slip back into my thoughts. I've never been very good at focusing on something boring for very long, and it seemed that was coming back to bite me today. I just couldn't wait until lunch. The first day back always felt the longest.

***

"...but I think she might actually be into me and- are you even listening Harry?" Liam snaps his fingers in front of my face, startling me and bringing my focus back to him.

"Yes...?" I hope that's the right answer to his question, but he just rolls his eyes.

"What was I just saying then?"

"There's a girl and... and..." I scramble to remember bits of the conversation but in the end, just shrug helplessly.

"Thought so." Liam sits back, folding his arms.

"Sorry, I've just been... distracted today." I shrug.

"By who?" Liam raises an eyebrow.

"Why would you think it's a 'who'?"

"Well it's certainly not an 'it' because you've been staring towards Louis Tomlinson since we started eating. You fancy him, don't you." My eyes widen and I shake my head.

"Oh God no! I do not fancy Louis." Liam grins and begins to nod slowly.

"You do. You definitely do. I have to admit, he's a pretty good-looking guy-"

"Liam for Gods sake, I don't fancy Louis Tomlinson-"

"You fancy Louis Tomlinson?" Sophia asks, claiming the seat next to me. I blow the loose hair out of my face frustratedly and shake my head.

"I don't! Liam thinks I fancy him because I've been staring towards him all dinner and he won't liste-"

"Well why else would you be staring at him all dinner?" Sophia grins. Liam nods.

"That's what I'm saying!"

"I wasn't!"

"You just said you were-"

"I said I was staring _towards_ him-"

" _at_ him!"

" _towards_ -"

" _at_ -"

" _Liam!_ " I exclaim, glaring at my smirking best friend. I love him to pieces, but sometimes I wish he were _in_ pieces.

"Don't look now, but he's totally looking this way," Sophia hisses with an accompanying punch to my shoulder.

"Why would I not look, _I don't even fancy him_ ," I grit out, shifting my glare to Sophia now. This just makes her laugh, which sets Liam off, at which point I just give up. I push myself up from the table and storm towards Louis' table. I hear Sophia squeal behind me and I pray they don't decide to yell suggestive comments after me. Louis is indeed looking at me with amusement in his eyes and he raises his eyebrows as I reach him.

"Harry? Your friends torturing you over there?" I run my hand through my hair and blow out a stream of hot air.

"Yeah. I'm just going to apologize in advance for them, they're probably going to start annoying you soon too."

"Okay...?"

"They think I fancy you..." I admit, clearing my throat awkwardly. Louis grins.

"Do you?"

"No!" I shake my head, feeling my face heating up and willing it to stop.

"Are you sure...?" Louis presses, grin growing. I frown.

"Pretty sure, yeah." Louis shrugs at that, grin not fading.

"Anyway, there's someone you should meet. He's new here and I told him I'd introduce him to some people," My mind flicks to the blond guy that I didn't recognize who Louis was with this morning and I find myself nodding eagerly.

"Sure, yeah. When?" Louis seems to find my response amusing because he smirks and raises his eyebrows again.

"Well he's leading the sing-a-long tonight with his cabin, so how about after?" I nod again, purposely masking my eagerness this time.

"Sounds good."

**************************************************************************************

**First chappie up!**

**I hope I can make what I want to happen, happen with this story.**

**Hopefully this will progress the way I want it to!**

**What books do you guys think I'm basing this one off of? Guess!**

**(Also go listen to these podcasts: Full Frontal with Alex Gaskarth and Jack Barakat and We Like It Loud with Kellin Quinn and Hi My Name Is Mark with Mark Hoppus)**

**-Sam xx**


	3. β

"Harry!"  
  
"Your boyfriend is calling," Liam winks and I roll my eyes, looking away from him to see Louis jogging towards us.  
  
"You still want to meet Niall?" I must look confused for a second because Louis smiles. "The guy I said I'd introduce you to..." He clarifies. I let out a quiet 'oh!' and nod.  
  
"C'mon then." Louis urges and then his eyes land on Liam and Sophia behind me. "You guys should come too." I want to tell them to disappear because there is no way they won't jump at the chance to embarrass me in front of the new guy, but they're already agreeing to tag along and I'm sighing and following Louis down the incline towards the stage. Students are still filling the seats of the amphitheatre, waiting for the headmaster to arrive to give his official welcome speech as the 4 of us make our way towards a group of Apollo's kids.  
  
"Niall!" Louis calls towards them. The blond guy I had seen this morning looks towards us, grin plastered across his face. Louis gestures for him move towards us, so he says bye to the group and heads in our direction.  
  
"What's up, Tommo?" he asks, Irish lilt curling his words in an appealing way.  
  
"I wanted to introduce you to these guys. This is Harry and Liam, and his girlfriend, Sophia." Both Liam and Sophia flush bright red and begin shaking their heads quickly.  
  
"He's not my-"  
  
"She's not my-" They rush to get the denial out, words overlapping.  
  
"They're not dating" I supply with a shrug. Niall just grins and Louis raises his eyebrows.  
  
"Really? Everyone thought you two had finally gotten together..." he mumbles.  
  
"It's nice to meet you Niall-" Liam greets hastily before looking back to Louis "-Louis what did you mean by that..." Liam and Sophia begin to interrogate Louis while I shake my head and Niall watches in amusement.  
  
"Well, it truly is nice to meet you Niall, welcome to Half-Blood Academy." I smile at him, drawing his eyes away from my frantic friends.  
  
"Thanks. Did you enjoy the sing-a-long?" Niall asks, smiling easily. I decide that I like his smile. There's something about it that makes me feel at ease.  
  
"It was fun," I nod. "How was your first day here?"  
  
"Good! I really like the archery professor," I nod in agreement.  
  
"Professor Stark is fantastic, you'll really enjoy having her." I hadn't seen Niall in archery today, but truthfully I hadn't really been paying attention to anyone around me, being too busy imagining the consequences of planting a colossal poison oak in the centre of the vineyard or strawberry field just to fuck with the satyrs. I've been oddly distracted today...  
  
"Harry...?" My eyes snap back to Niall's face, having strayed over to the face of some first year with copious amounts of freckles just over Niall's shoulder, without my consent.  
  
"Sorry, I..." I shrug, unable to come up with a decent excuse to offer for my rudeness. "...been distracted today." Niall smiles graciously and that pleasant warmth from earlier washes over me again at the sight of it.  
  
"It's fine, I get like that sometimes too. My mum always said it was the ADHD," I nod, thankful for his understanding. Why had my brain picked today to get all space-y?  
  
"Jesus guys! If it bothers you so much, stop making heart eyes at each other across the room all of the time!" I tune back into Liam and Sophia's grilling session with Louis just in time to hear Louis' exasperated huff.  
  
"Harry please-" he begs, looking to me for aid. My eyebrows shoot upwards and I shake my head slowly as an amused smile tugs at my lips.  
  
"Don't look at me,"  
  
"Okay you good for nothing, pimple-faced, demigod rats-"  
  
"Headmaster..." Chiron's warning voice cuts the Headmaster's bored tone short as he is attempting to catch the attention of everyone in the amphitheatre.  
  
"Right, right," he sighs, seemingly beyond caring. "Take your seats, I'd like to get this over with," Louis' face shows his relief at the apparent end of his conversation with Sophiam and I can't help but chuckle. Liam, Sophia, and I claim seats next to Louis and Niall. Niall is on my left and I can't help but notice how good he smells. The best way I can describe it is like a fresh, cool breeze on a hot summer's day.  
  
"Quickly, quickly, we don't have all night!" The Headmaster urges with an impatient sigh. As soon as everyone has taken a seat, he begins.  
  
"Welcome to Half-Blood Academy, good to see the new faces and I'm glad to see the rest of you've all made it back again this year and haven't been eaten by Lamia or dismembered by hellhounds-" Headmaster drawls until Chiron coughs warningly and he pauses, with another sigh.  
  
"-anyway, I'm Professor D, Headmaster of The Academy courtesy of my great misfortune, and I'm supposed to warmly welcome you all to another exciting year of learning and blah, blah, blah, there are some rules; do not leave your house after curfew, there may be Gryphon's roaming the grounds and they may just find the soft, fleshy fingers and toes of teenagers to be wonderfully delicious treats, and do not enter the forest after night fall unless you fancy being mauled by Laelaps, that is entirely your choice.  
  
"The Naiads have expressly requested that food and drink remain far away from the lake, they are tired of fishing snack wrappers out from under the dock, and do not go for any sort of casual stroll through the strawberry fields, the Satyrs are equally as tired of reviving the trampled plants. Abide by these 4 simple rules and you all will live regular length, mediocre lives, full of monotonous, minimally paying jobs and middle-class families." The Headmaster finishes. Niall leans closer to me and our arms are pressed together a bit, my arm beginning to tingle at the contact.  
  
"Seems like a real charmer," he says in a low voice. His eyes sparkle in amusement and I can't help but smile.  
  
"Oh yeah, 'charm' is Professor D's middle name," I reply in the same low tone. After I say it though, I internally sigh at my sad lack of witty responses. That one hadn't even made sense, seeing as Professor D doesn't have a last name, so how could he possibly have a middle one. Niall doesn't seem to notice though, smile spreading across his face all the same.  
  
"Thank you Headmaster," Chiron steps up now as Professor D waves him forwards with a dismissive flick of his wrist. "One again, welcome students, we are so glad you're here with us the next few terms, we sincerely hope your year will be enjoyable and educational. Now the announcement you've no doubt all been waiting for, this year's Demigod Olympiad is to be held right here at Half-Blood Academy. For those of you who don't know, the Olympiad is held every 4 years. It is a competition involving the top 5 demigod academies across the world..." Chiron goes on to explain the details of the tournament as the students take it all in, their excitement almost tangible.  
  
"...5 trials. Anyone the age of 16 or above may enter, so long as their head of house believes they are fit to enter..." I've mostly stopped listening by now, my eyes beginning to drift around the amphitheatre before my gaze alights on Niall's face. His eyes are glued to Chiron, lips slightly parted, eyes just a bit wider than usual. Clearly the prospect of The Olympiad is an exciting one to him. I find a small part of my brain wishing that Niall's intense focus was directed at me, for no apparent reason, so I force my attention back to Chiron instead.  
  
"...hope you will treat our guests with the utmost courtesy and hospitality when they arrive, after all, they are your brothers and sisters."  
  
"Half," I hear Liam mutter next to me. I smile lazily. Liam had no particular love for his father, but what half-blood really had any particular familiar feelings for their godly parent? Liam's mother was a different story entirely though. Liam all but worshiped the ground his mother walked on, for various reasons, and if he felt like she wasn't receiving her due credit, he would have a problem.  
  
"Thank you all for being such a gracious audience, I bid you all a good night and pleasant dreams. Headmaster? Would you care to dismiss them?" Chiron once again steps back to allow Professor D to have the proverbial spotlight. The headmaster merely surveys all of us with a wide, sweeping look before waving a hand dismissively.  
  
"Go on then, off to bed!" He monotones. The buzz of excited chatter instantly breaks out as we all stand and begin filing out of the amphitheatre. We are separated from Niall, Sophia, and Louis in the crowd, but I manage to stick with Liam as we join the flow of students on their ways up the aisle.  
  
"So what do you think H? You gonna enter?" Liam asks me, nudging my arm with his elbow. I shake my head.  
  
"Hell no, not interested."  
  
"Why not? You'd do really well," I am genuinely flattered by his confidence in me, but I just shake my head again.  
  
"Not my thing, I guess." I shrug, unable to supply a better explanation since I don't actually posses one. We follow everyone to the quad, where they are all branching off to their respective houses. The quad pretty much consists of a large, cobble stoned courtyard with a gigantic, perpetually smouldering hearth in the centre, with ancient Greek buildings of various sizes and materials fencing in 3 of the sides of the courtyard. The buildings vary in size, coinciding with the importance of the god or goddess they represent. The 3 biggest buildings belong to Zeus, Poseidon, and Zeus' wife, Hera, but they always stand empty, mostly just having been built out of respect. I bid Liam goodnight and we part ways in the centre, me headed for one of the smaller houses on the left, near the front, and Liam headed for one of the slightly larger houses on the right, closer to those of the biggest.  
  
I enter the Hecate house and start up the staircase on the right to the boys rooms, waving at a couple of my half-sisters, headed up the left staircase to the girls rooms. Truly, it is kind of strange to think about the fact that all of the people inside of the house are related to me, all 150 or so of them. Honestly though, I'm just glad there's only 75 boys to split the 25 dorms with as opposed to the nearly 140 boys in Hermes. I find myself thankful yet again for the apparent self-control my mother seems to have. Well, it's self-control for a goddess, that is.  
  
I enter the room I share with 2 other 6th year lads, Dan Sheffield, and Tom DeLangeton, and head straight for my bed on the far side if the room, closest to the windows.  
  
"Hey Harry! How was your summer?" Dan greets me. He is rifling through his still packed suitcase for a pair of pajamas most likely.  
  
"It was alright, uneventful." I shrug.  
  
"Just be glad you weren't chased by demon dogs while on holiday, like Tom!" I pause in rifling through the drawers of the chest that I had filled with my clothing earlier, to glance over at Tom in surprise. I find the red-headed boy nodding urgently.  
  
"It's true!" He insists. "We were over in New York! Stayed in Long Island for a couple weeks, but had to cut it short after I was chased down the beach by some huge, black dogs! I swear to Zeus, they were from Hades! Dad grabbed my little sister like a quarterback and chucked her into the car! Nearly drove away without me, he did!" He recounts vehemently. I blink, unsure of how to appropriately respond to his story. Luckily though, Dan and Tom are used to my relatively concise nature by now, and they launch into their own conversation about hellhounds and Laelaps.  
  
I finally manage to locate the plaid pajama bottoms I had been looking for and quickly change into them and a loose, worn band shirt for bed. I slip under my bed covers, letting out a quiet sigh. I am actually decently tired after the first day and was sufficiently sick of my wandering mind. I hate days like these, when I get all distracted for no reason. They make me feel like that annoying kid from primary who couldn't sit still during carpet time and annoyed the shit out of everyone all over again.  
  
I finally consciously allow my mind to wander for the first time today as my fatigue begins to kick in. I mentally sigh about my new 'fancy' for Louis, as bestowed upon me by Liam, and mull over the new kid, Niall.  
  
 _He had pretty eyes..._  
  
My increasingly more tired brain manages, amid the jumble of other thoughts tumbling around like they are in a clothes dryer. The quiet hum of Dan and Tom's voices lull me into a pleasant half-asleep state, in which I have one more unwarranted consideration.  
  
 _It couldn't hurt to at least enter for The Olympiad, could it?_


	4. γ

**2 Days Later**  
  
"Maybe he dumped Hilary, so she cursed him?" I suggest. Liam and I are discussing which Apollo kid Fred had pissed off in order to receive the rhyming curse on our way to breakfast. We had passed the Nike house just as he had also been leaving with his friends for breakfast and had heard his new inability to speak in anything aside from rhyming couplets. After snickering about it we had begun speculating as to who had cursed him.   
  
"Sophia would be the one to ask about that, mate." Liam shrugs as we reach the tall archway of the mess. We claim our usual picnic table and have soon loaded our plates down with bacon, eggs, mash, sausages, toast, fruit, and whatever else we had wanted that was on the platters that the wood nymphs and naiads were drifting around with. We both stand and head to the large hearth in the centre of the mess and join the short que.   
  
"So are you entering for The Olympiad?" Liam inquires. I shake my head.   
  
"I don't plan to,"   
  
"Why not? I bet you'd be chosen, you'd make a fantastic hero for The Academy." I cough awkwardly, unaccustomed to such a grand compliment, before shrugging.   
  
"I'm not cut out to be a hero, it's just not my thing." I attempt to evade the oncoming conversation with that as we reach the hearth.   
  
"Hecate," I say before scraping a generous portion of my mash into the flames. The pleasant scent of my mum's freshly baked raspberry pie and the fresh smell of the earth in the early morning reaches my nose and I breathe deeply before stepping aside for Liam.   
  
"Hepheastus," he speaks before doing the same. We head back to our table and dig in, the conversation blessedly put on hold for the time being.   
  
"Hey boys," Sophia greets us, dropping down onto the bench next to Liam and setting her own plate down.   
  
"Good morning Soph, sleep well?" Liam asks politely. Sophia nods.   
  
"Yeah, well enough. So are either of you entering?" We both shake our heads.   
  
"Why not?"   
  
"Well I'm pretty useless," Liam begins.   
  
"No you're not! You can do that sick fire thing!" Sophia protests. Liam shrugs.   
  
"Yeah, but aside from that I'm not very good at much else."   
  
"You don't give yourself enough credit," Sophia frowns before looking to me. I just shake my head again.   
  
"Not my thing." Sophia squints at me and purses her lips.   
  
"Are you kidding? You'd probably make the best hero out if all of us, Harry." I feel myself blush a deep red and look back down to my food, busying myself with chopping a sausage into bits with the edge of my fork.   
  
"Emma would make a great hero..." I mumble.   
  
"What about you?" Liam thankfully shifts the focus to Sophia herself and I suddenly feel like I can breathe again.   
  
"What advantage would I have aside from my stunningly good looks? Y'know, Aphrodite doesn't really bless her children with any special talents aside from persuasion, and even that's only if you're lucky." She says, waving her fork in the air for punctuation before using it to spear a strawberry and lift it to her mouth.   
  
"So Harry," Liam starts slowly and I just know I'm going to hate what comes out of his mouth next. "had any luck with Louis yet?" He smirks. My eyes narrow at him.   
  
"Ade sto diaolo." I shoot back.   
  
"No need to get nasty! He was just asking an innocent question about his best friend's love life!" Sophia responds as she and Liam laugh.   
  
"I need new friends," I mumble with a sigh, pushing my empty plate to the side so I can prop my elbow on the table and my cheek in my hand.   
  
"Oh yeah, do you know who cursed Fred?" Liam asks Sophia now. Her eyes brighten and she grins.   
  
"Hilary caught him kissing Louise! Ooh, she was mad this morning!" Sophia giggles. Liam hums and nods, taking a sip of his water.   
  
"Ahem! Settle down, settle down," Headmaster's voice cuts through the white noise of voices filling the morning air. The noise dies out after a moment as everyone's attention focuses on Professor D.   
  
"I hope you're all settling in comfortably and getting into the routine of classes once again, but enough of that, down to business. As I announced a couple days ago, the Demigod Olympiad is being held here this year, and in regards to that, entries will open at noon today-" there is an excited burst of chatter that cuts the headmaster off as the news is received excitedly.   
  
"-will you all quiet down!" Professor D snaps with a huff. A hush falls immediately, and the headmaster takes a steady breath before continuing. "No half-blood under the age of 16 may enter, the magic of the hearth will make sure of that, and all who enter will be considered against the 3 qualities that the Academy has chosen to define our hero with." A low murmur ripples through the crowd now, all of the demigods in attendance wondering to each other what those 3 qualities could be.   
  
"If you'd all shut up, I could tell you-" Chiron clears his throat loudly and Headmaster pauses for a moment to collect himself. "-as I was saying, the Academy chooses it's hero based upon 3 of the 5 traits that are tested in the Olympiad. Those 5 traits are leadership, bravery, selflessness, wit, and skill. The 3 that all demigods who enter will be most closely watched for are wit, skill, and selflessness."   
  
"I guess that means all of the children of Ares are screwed," I whisper across the table to Liam, who snickers and casts a glance over towards the group of burly kids a few tables over.   
  
"Now then, as I said, entries will open at noon. A hearth will be placed here in the pavilion at the staff table and in order to enter you must write your first and last name, as well as your godly parent's name on a slip of paper and drop it in. I must once again warn against anyone under the age of 16 attempting to enter, if you choose to do so you may find yourself in a rather painful predicament..." the headmaster finishes ominously without even attempting to mask his dark smile. An uncomfortable silence falls over the mess hall for a moment before Chiron breaks it.   
  
"Well thank you for that Headmaster," he inclines his head politely towards Professor D before continuing. "now you all have classes, do you not? I suggest you make for them post haste." With the dismissal, a clamour of voices once again rises all around the mess as students rise and start off in the directions of their first classes of the day. Liam, Sophia, and I merge into the stream of students headed towards the school building.   
  
"So you're really not going to enter, Harry?" Sophia asks. I shrug and shake my head.   
  
"I'll think about it..." I finally relent. Sophia smiles.   
  
"Good."   
  
"See you later, Soph." Liam and I wave back at Sophia as we are passing the broad road leading through the forest to the beach, and forages.   
  
"So when are you asking her on a date?" Liam looks at me in surprise.   
  
"I- does everyone really think we fancy each other?" He asks. I raise my eyebrows.   
  
"It's pretty obvious, mate."   
  
"But I don't- we don't-" Liam splutters.   
  
"Don't hurt yourself." I smile and shake my head at his protests. He falls silent, face set in a scowl.   
  
"Does the whole Louis thing actually bother you?" He asks out of nowhere after a moment.   
  
"Not really, no. He's a cool guy, and definitely attractive, so no."   
  
"You don't actually fancy him... do you?" I survey Liam from the corner of my eye, wondering where the sudden concern had come from.   
  
"No... why?" Liam just shrugs as we reach the little path to a large clearing in the centre of the woods.   
  
"I'll see you at lunch." Liam says joining a couple other Heapheastus kids who had been walking behind us as I turn towards the path to the clearing. I nod and wave over my shoulder as he and the others continue on towards the forages and I set off to the clearing to join the rest of my class.   
  
***   
  
I ended up pretty bored this class since I already knew how to do the magic everyone else was learning (the perks of having an older sister with the same godly-parent, I guess). I was just relieved when it was time for Archery. I weaved my way through the forest to a more sparsely forested area, closer to the treeline. Small groups of students have already congregated in this clearing as they wait for the professor.   
  
"Don't be so anti-social, Harry!" Sophia smiles as she joins me, pointedly stood away from the nearest group of people.   
  
"I'm not being anti-social, I'm being normal..." I mumble as she behind chattering about something that had happened in first block.   
  
"Everyone select a bow, quickly, I'd like to do some skill level assessing!" the professor calls around the clearing as she finally arrives. We all do as we're told and line up along the shooting range.   
  
"You can all warm up a bit with some practice shots as I move down the line!" I notch an arrow against the bowstring and with light fingers, draw it back. I take slow deep breaths in and out a couple times, eyes trained on the red and white target a couple yards in front of me. With my next exhale, I let the arrow fly.   
  
A solid thud reaches my ears as the arrow sinks into the target a mere inch or so from the bulls eye. Sophia draws my attention as she lets out a long low whistle.   
  
"You need to teach me how to shoot this damn bow," she muses, inspecting my target from next to me. I observe her own and take note of the arrow protruding from the very bottom of the target, just barely having made it into the last ring.   
  
"Well first of all, you're aiming too low." She raises an eyebrow at me.   
  
"Really? And how can you tell that?" she challenges.   
  
"Show me how you get ready to shoot." I instruct instead of answering the question. She does, notching a new arrow in the bow and shutting an eye to line the arrow up with the centre of the target.   
  
"There's your first problem. Keep both eyes open." She opens her eye and hums in interest as she finds she has to shift her aim farther to the right in order to be accurately lined up with the bulls eye.   
  
"Okay, so now what?"   
  
"What are you aiming at?"   
  
"The middle."   
  
"Well that's problem 2 then. You want to aim a bit above the centre of your target, or your arrow will end up hitting your target too low, unless it's point-blank." I lean my bow against a light post to my right, and step behind Sophia. I look down her bow at her level and lift her arms a bit.

"Finally, separate your legs to about shoulder width." She does as I instruct and I remove m hands from her arms, moving them back to rest on her shoulders.

"Now take your time. Really make sure you're ready to release the arrow. Breathe in deeply, and then release the arrow on your exhale." Sophia breathes in and out a few times, and finally releases the arrow. It sails through the air and sinks itself deeply into the the 7 point ring.

"Did you see that!" She exclaims excitedly, turning to face me with a wide grin. I smile and nod.

"Amazing. Now keep practicing." She nods and takes another arrow, turning back towards her target. I reclaim my own bow and place next to her, returning to my own shooting. After a couple minutes, I glance down the line, taking in the ease of the Apollo kids fluidly notching arrows and releasing them, only to have them sail smoothly through the air and sink deeply into the centre of the target, one after the other. 

My eyes fall on Niall as the professor is standing next to him for his assessment. His face is set in concentration as he notches an arrow. He draws the bowstring back slowly and smoothly, muscles flexing with the clearly familiar action. His chest expands with a breath in and he holds it for a moment before releasing the bowstring with the exhale. The arrow plants itself into the centre of the target, as I had expected, and Niall gives an almost imperceptible nod, as if satisfied with his performance.

***

With a final smack to the chest with the hilt of my sword, Jacob is sent sprawling backwards onto the dirt ground of the arena. The class erupts in applause and I try to control my mildly elevated breathing with slow inhales through my nose and measured exhales through my mouth.

"Absolutely brilliant job, Harry!" Professor Lankford praises. I pull Jacob back up to his feet and we rejoin the rest of the battle classes circle that was surrounding us. The professor steps back into the centre to address us.

"That'll be all for today, you've all preformed very well. Good luck to all of you who have entered for the Olympiad, and please show your utmost support to whomever is selected tomorrow. You're all dismissed."

"You kicked ass, mate! You're going to have to teach me some of your technique," Liam exclaims as the class begins to filter out of the arena. I shrug, sheathing my sword and pulling the elastic out of my hair so that it can fall back down freely.

"Harry, can I have a word?" Professor Lankford calls my attention and Liam and I both stop walking towards the exit. I nod in response and walk back towards the man as Liam continues on to the exit.

"Have you entered for the Olympiad, by any chance?" I shake my head.

"No, why?"

"You should consider it. You preformed exceptionally today, and I've been hearing nothing but good things from your other professors. Just think about it." I nod hesitantly and the professor smiles.

"Have a good afternoon, Harry." I rejoin Liam at the exit and we start towards the armory to return our practice swords.

"So what was that about?" I shrug at the question.

"He told me I should enter for the Olympiad."

"That has to be a sign, mate. Everyone is telling you to, so you should!" I simply shrug and shake my head, but say nothing. Everyone seemed to be saying the same thing recently...

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**This update took unreasonably long to write, but here it is finally, and things relating to the Olympiad (the focus of this story) are going to start to happen next chapter.**

**A couple quick questions;**

**1\. Who do you think is going to be chosen as the Academy's hero?**

**2\. (this one is an important one that'll effect the rest of this story!) Do you think Sophiam should be a thing in this story, or Lilo?**

**Please comment your answers, they'll be really helpful! Thanks for your patience guys, I'll try my best to have the next chapter up soon around school and work and musical theatre auditions and stuff.**

**-Sam xx**


	5. δ

I take a slow, deep breath in and clear my mind, focusing on the lone, drooping flower near my foot. The forest around me is silent in the way nature is, that is to say, buzzing with insects and rustling with the breeze through the foliage. I had come out here after battle class, after Liam had dismissed himself from my company with a mumbled excuse of 'having something important to do'. I hadn't been able to find Sophia either, so here I was, sitting in the forest by myself because I really didn't have the motivation to drag myself down to the lake to join in the 'party' that Louis had arranged (it was just Hermes house's excuse to lift snack foods from the mess hall, and terrorize the water nymphs without it looking like they were doing so on purpose).

My attention is focused on the flower and I exhale slowly, fingers beginning to tingle. The flower instantly begins to perk up, petals turning a more vibrant shade of purple, the green of the straightening stem and growing leaves deepening, petals enlarging in proportion to the leaves until the little flower was stood proudly in all of its glory.

"Woah," I jump, startled at the new voice. I hadn't heard him approach, but I now find Niall stood just off of the forest path a bit to my left, watching the flower. His hair is damp and sticking up in all directions, like he had just run a towel through it quickly. A towel is indeed slung over his shoulder, and I figure that means he had just come from the party.

"Were you just making that flower grow?" I nod in affirmation and Niall breathes out another quiet 'woah', stepping lightly over to me and sinking down to his knees to examine the flower.

"That's amazing!" I smile and lean back against the tree behind me once again, surveying Niall.

"Thank you." his eyes settle on my face now and he smiles.

"It was Harry, right?" I nod by way of response, and scoop up a handful of dry pine needles and begin picking through them absentmindedly.

"How come you didn't come down to the beach?" I shrug.

"I wasn't particularly feeling the social interaction that would be inevitable had I gone down there." Niall laughs and I smile in response. Niall just had one of those contagious laughs that you can't help but smile when you hear.

"So, what? You're anti-social?"

"No, I wouldn't say anti-social per-se, because I'll socialize. I just don't tend to feel the need to go out of my way to do so." I shrug. Liam always just rolls his eyes at me when I say things like that, but it's true. Niall nods slowly.

"Is this one of those times?" he asks after a minute. I shake my head.

"No… I think I enjoy your company." A lopsided grin slides onto Niall's face at my words and he tilts his head to the side a bit.

"You think?" I smile softly and nod.

"I think."

"Well, let me know when you figure out for sure, yeah?" He jokes. We lapse into a momentary silence that stretches on to the point where I feel like it is about to shift from comfortable to possibly-awkward, when Niall speaks up again.

"Your eyes are, hypnotic… or something…" He mumbles, and I curse myself silently, blinking and tearing my gaze away from Niall's own eyes. Niall blinks slowly now, seemingly coming out of some sort of trance, and then a look of confusion slips across his face. "wait."

"Sorry, uh,"

"For what?"

"That, uh, well y'know how your godly parent sometimes gives you 'gifts' and whatnot?" Niall nods and I clear my throat.

"Well, I got this thing from my mother... it's like, if someone stares into my eyes for too long they can't lie anymore. They just start telling me everything…" Niall eyes widen at that.

"That's… kinda scary," I nod in agreement. It's definitely caused me some trouble in the past.

"Kinda cool though, to be honest." He adds, like an afterthought. I look at him in mild surprise. Normally that made people more uncomfortable than interested…

"My dad gives all of his sons and daughters the same 'gift'. We've all got this 'influence' thing, but mine is really strong for some reason, and I can't always control it." He admits with a feeble shrug.

"I noticed," Niall scratches awkwardly at the back of his neck, eyes averting.

"Sorry, it's-"

"I like it." He looks back up at me now, eyebrows raised.

"Really?" I nod my confirmation and offer a smile.

"It's nice." A subtle relief seems to flood into Niall's face and he smiles again, and this time, I receive a complimenting gentle wave of warmth filling my chest from his influence, like he had just relinquished some of the strength he was using to keep it at bay after my admittance.

"So how come you're out here? Aside from avoiding unnecessary social interaction?" Niall asks, changing the subject.

"Mostly practicing my magic, I guess. It's quiet, so I can think too."

"What do you think about?" At my raised eyebrow, Niall's face tinges a slight pink.

"I mean- you don't have to answer that, sorry-" I shake my head.

"Don't worry, it's nothing in particular most of the time." After another moment's pause, Niall speaks up.

"I've decided I definitely enjoy your company, even if you haven't figured out if you enjoy mine yet. You're an interesting person, Harry." I tilt my head back and look up to the thick pine branches above our heads as a smile quirks my lips upwards.

"Is interesting good?"

"I reckon so, yeah." The smile in Niall's voice is evident and I'm unreasonably proud of myself for having been the cause of it time and time again over the course of our conversation.

"Are you going back to the houses before dinner?" I ask, eyeing Niall's swimming shorts.

"To change, yeah. Walk me there?" My eyes lift to meet his in slight surprise only to see his expression. It makes his words feel more like a challenge than a request, and I'm too curious about Niall now to refuse the opportunity.

"Sure." I accept Niall's offered hand and lever myself up to my feet, and we start towards the houses. We walk in silence, but it's a comfortable one, shoulders brushing every now and then, sounds of the forest being the only noises heard between us. When we reach the entrance to the courtyard and the first few houses, Niall looks towards me and opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted as his name is called.

"Niall, mate! Where've you been?" some son of Apollo that I can't recall the name of is waving towards us snagging Niall's attention.

"I'll see you later, yeah?" Niall mumbles quietly to me, fingers softly touching my arm for a split second before he is turning and heading towards the guy.

"Yeah," I mumble as a response to his parting words, but he doesn't hear since he's already halfway across the courtyard now. I watch him go for a moment before turning and wandering in the general direction of the pavilion. When I reach the archway there aren't many people sat at the tables. I'm one of the first to arrive for dinner, so I claim a seat to wait for the rest of the school. Slowly the pavilion begins to fill and about 5 minutes before the Nymphs begin bringing the food around, Liam and Sophia show up.

"I'm glad you two took your time." I greet them with an eye roll.

"We were... doing something."

"So I heard." I sigh before looking towards the Nymphs now filling the aisles. I see a look flit between the pair out of the corner of my eye as I load up my plate with barbecue ribs, fresh bread, what I assume are some steamed vegetables and various other foods.

"Harry-" Before I hear whatever Sophia opens her mouth to say, I stand and start up towards the hearth. When I return to the table Liam and Sophia are at the hearth, so I sit on my own once again for a minute or so while they burn their offering to their godly parent. When they return, there is a moment of silence where neither Liam or Sophia seems to know what to say, and I raise an eyebrow at them. I know I'm acting like a bit of a prick, but I don't feel the desire to be nice at the moment.

"So, uh... did you go to the party at the lake earlier?" Liam finally asks.

I shake my head. "While you two were off snogging somewhere-" Liam makes a noise of protest but I ignore him. "-I was talking to Niall." I take a bite of my food and chew, waiting for a response.

"Are you into him?"

"Do I really have to be into someone to have a conversation with them?" I groan.

"Well considering the fact that you don't talk to anyone except for us most of the time, I'd say so." Sophia smirks. I just sigh. When dinner is finished, Professor D stands and silence slowly descends on the pavilion as we all realize what the impending announcement will be.

"As I'm sure you've all been waiting for, we're about to find out who this year's hero will be." Excited murmurs ripple across the pavilion and I actually find myself leaning in just the tiniest bit in anticipation.

"But before we do, I must announce that the other schools will be arriving tomorrow and all 5 hero's will receive the first task, so classes will once again be cut short." My eyes quickly survey the other tables before they are once again trained on the headmaster. Some people look excited, while others look nervous, and others, worried and scared. There were a couple who looked confident, as if they're certain that they are about to be announced as hero.

"Half-Blood Academy's hero for the one hundred fifty first Demigod Olympiad will be-" The anticipation is almost tangible and my stomach gives an involuntary lurch as Professor D lifts a yellowed, ancient looking scroll up and unrolls it. His eyes trace the name and he looks up, eyes falling on our new hero.

"Niall Horan."

 

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**Be entirely honest with me, who saw that coming?**

**Also, final consensus, Lilo, or Sophiam?**

**Sorry for the sporadic updates, I've had a lot on my plate recently... until next time, enjoy!**

**-Sam xx**

 


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